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A client receives his dose of methadone from a dispensing nurse at C.O.R.E. Medical Clinic in Sacramento, California, on March 13th, 2019.

Social Justice

There’s a Gold-Standard Treatment for Opioid Addiction, One of America’s Top Killers. What Keeps Treatment Centers From Using It?

A quest through California to find which addiction and recovery centers aren't using medication-assisted treatment—our country's best bet for beating the opioid crisis.

Francie Diep

News in Brief

A Decade After the FDA Warned Doctors About Methadone, States Finally Stopped Recommending It

When used as a pain reliever, methadone is especially likely to cause unintentional overdoses.

Francie Diep

News in Brief

How States’ Medicaid Policies Expose Poor People to a Deadly Painkiller

Of all the prescriptions doctors wrote for opioid painkillers in 2014, only 1 percent were for methadone. Yet…

Francie Diep

Social Justice

Five Studies: Understanding America’s Opioid Crisis

After 20 years of skyrocketing addiction rates, how can the United States get its pill problem under control?

Livia Gershon

News in Brief

A Case for Methadone in Our Jails

Methadone could have saved David Stojcevski, who died on the floor of his jail cell last year.

Kate Wheeling

Social Justice

When Addicts Get Out of Jail

New research suggests that maintaining methadone treatment in jails and prisons would save lives.

Lauren Kirchner

News in Brief

How America Overdosed on Drug Courts

Hailed as the most compassionate way for the criminal justice system to deal with addicts, drug courts were designed to balance punishment with rehabilitation. But after 25 years, the verdict is in: Drug courts embolden judges to practice medicine without a license—and they put lives in danger.

Maia Szalavitz

News in Brief

American Judges Are Playing Doctor—and Doing Harm

An early look at a Pacific Standard story that's currently only available to subscribers.

Pacific Standard Staff

Social Justice

Here’s What’s Wrong With How U.S. Doctors Respond to Painkiller Misuse

Too often, Americans with painful medical conditions who misuse pain pills like Oxycontin are denied further treatment and even prosecuted. There are more effective, enlightened responses—as the U.K. has shown for decades.

Maia Szalavitz

Social Justice

The Drug Lord With a Social Mission

Matt Bowden (sometimes known as Starboy, an "interdimensional traveler") helped create one of the most viral outbreaks of new drugs in history. He might also have the antidote.

Maia Szalavitz